Past Shadows
by Glennwingr
Summary: Selim has grown into a nice and caring boy. What will happen when he discovers about his past? Will he change or stay the gentle and loving child he is?


**A/N: Hi! I was thinking of making something different this time. Enjoy reading it! (I apologize for any mistakes I may have made in terms of grammar and punctuation.)**

**Past Shadows**

Selim looked at the clock in his bedroom. It was eight in the morning. He yawned. Still too early for him. He was about to climb back into his bed when the door to his room suddenly slammed open.

"Young master, you're awake!" He heard his mentor say.

Selim was annoyed. No more sleep for him. Sleepily, he descended the stairs towards the dining room for breakfast. He'd been thinking about his life. He never got to know about his father- his mother would not talk about the topic. Every time he asked her about it, she would drop it.

"I'd rather not talk about him, Selim, please understand," she said.

He sighed as he spooned his breakfast.

Ed checked his golden watch.

"Al! Come on, it's time to pay old Mustang a visit!" he said.

Alphonse blankly jumped out of his bed.

"Don't surprise me, brother, I was barely awake…" he said.

Ed chuckled beside him. "Come on, that old dog's gonna be mad if we're late. We promised to help him with paperwork, right?"

"Nah, you're the one who did promise him. How could he trick you into doing something that low?" Al smirked.

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"No. I'm sleepy."

"Come on, please? I'm gonna treat you if you come along."

"Fine! I give up! Just lemme get dressed." Al mumbled, still half-awake.

"Today we're going to visit the military." Selim heard his mentor say.

Selim was filled with excitement. He had always admired the military and those who work for it. He had always dreamt of becoming an officer there.

They started walking to the large building together; it was close to their house. Selim had often wondered how his mother obtained the house; everybody knew that the houses near the military building were reserved for those who work there.

It only took about ten minutes to arrive at the humongous building.

"Now, young master, if you would please listen to me, not every part of the building is accessible to commoners like us, so you should follow me closely, don't run away."

"Yes, yes, I know," he said, ignorant of the fact.

He knew he _wanted_ to run away and that he shouldn't, but all that was too exciting to _not _be seen. Selim Bradley grinned to himself. He was up to some mischief.

Ed and Al stepped out of the train. They had arrived in Central- it only took them half an hour. Everything had been improved since the war. They had signed peace treaties with other countries. They'd shared their technology with the others- and learnt many things along with that, which explained how they had gained a massive technological leap.

They arrived at the military building shortly. Ed proceeded to walk into Mustang's private work room.

"Hey, Ed!" he heard Mustang greet him.

"Hey," Ed replied, scowling at the huge amount of paperwork he had to do.  
>Al walked up to Mustang. "How d'ya trick him into this?" he asked.<p>

Mustang smiled sheepishly. "Well, you gotta ask your brother 'bout that," he chuckled.

Ed scowled even deeper. "He's blackmailing me."

"What for?"

"A girl he's in love with," said Mustang, an evil grin transfixed in his face.

Ed blushed, "If you show her, I'll kill you, Mustang!"

Al laughed. "Come on, everyone _knows_ you're in love with Winry!"

"But not everyone has his recorded confession." Mustang said, still smiling.

"I gotta take a break. This room's full of blackmailers," he said, putting down the paper he was dealing with. He walked out of the room, leaving two ecstatic men behind him.

Selim Bradley roamed around with delight. He'd successfully run away from his mentor.

_Only for a while, I'll be back soon_, he promised himself as he enjoyed the view of the military office. No one seemed to care about him; all the officers ignored him and walked past him without even glancing at him. Selim wandered off by himself, observing his dream workplace. Suddenly, an officer bumped into him and dropped a bunch of paper into the floor.

"I'm sorry, sir," Selim glanced apologetically.

The officer grumbled while gathering all the scattered papers. Then he left Selim.

Selim suddenly noticed an object the officer must have failed to retrieve. It was a photo of an old man, titled 'Fuhrer Bradley'.

Selim was stupefied. His mind remembered what had happened. He remembered who he truly is.

"I… I am a homunculus?" He was terrified at the thought.

He remembered his past life as Pride. He remembered now, and his mind fluttered away as his old self took hold of him.

Ed heard screams coming from the lower level. He began running towards them to check what was going on.

"Sir!" He heard someone say, "There is a homunculus going berserk downstairs!"

Ed was shocked to hear the news. Only one homunculus was left, he was sure of that. Selim Bradley had gone mad. He gritted his teeth as he ran towards the fuzz. There he saw the child.

Selim Bradley was standing in the middle of the room, the shadows covering him. _He'd truly gone mad, _Ed thought, _he's blindly attacking people now._

Ed reacted as fast as he could. He shut down the lamps. The room went pitch black.

Ed quickly found his way to Selim Bradley. The child was sitting at the corner of the room, silent. Ed grabbed Selim's hand.

"Selim! Snap out of it!"

"Selim? I'm Pride, Pride the homunculus!" he shouted.

"Calm down, will ya!"

Selim buried his head in his arms. "I… Why does it have to be me?" he whispered, shivering.

"You can't change the past, Selim. Look at me! You remember me right?!" he said, "I am the boy who tried human transmutation and lost my arm and leg! I can't change the past, even if I wanted to."

"Y-yes, but…"

"But what?! Look up, Selim! The people around you, the people you see each day, each of them knew that you are a homunculus, yet they've kept up with you 'till today! It means that they believe you are different, Selim! Don't betray them."

"They… They knew about it all along! I cannot come back, Ed, they'll hate me!" he said.

Ed pulled Selim out of the room. A crowd had gathered outside. Selim could see his mother, his mentor, and many other people.

"Selim! You worried us!" Mrs. Bradley came to her son, hugging him.

"Young master, you shouldn't go running away like that!" He heard his mentor say, relieved.

_They didn't hate me_, he thought, tears coming out of his eyes. He ran to his mother.

"Now, you've caused quite a mess here, my dear. You should go to Old Mustang and apologize. You've caused quite a commotion here," his mother said.

"Okay. I will," he answered quietly.

"Now, that's my good boy," she said, ruffling her son's dark hair, smiling.

Selim smiled. He knew his family loved him, everybody loved him. His fears faded away, along with his old self. _I can live with it, _he thought, _nobody seems to care and besides, having these powers is pretty cool. _Yes, he's a homunculus, but he didn't care.

"Hey, Selim, I wanted to ask you a favor." Ed said beside him.

They were walking to Mustang's office.

"When you get into that old man's office, could you secretly grab his cellphone with one of your shadows?" Ed asked, grinning sheepishly.

"Sure, I can! But what for?" Selim replied.

"Uh… There's something important there…" he said.

"Okay." Selim threw a mischievous grin at him.

They came into the office and Ed started talking nonsense to Mustang (and delivering Selim's apology and joking along with Al at the same time) while Selim secretly snatched Mustang's cellphone.

"Got it!" he screamed happily.

Mustang realized what had happened and frowned.

"Don't worry, mister, I'll give you back the phone after I erase something," Selim said, grinning.

"Good job, Selim!" He heard Ed whisper behind him.

"I'm not giving this to you, Ed," he flashed another smile, "You're going to treat me first!"

Mustang and Al started laughing. Ed smiled wryly.

"Alright, you win, kid!"


End file.
